Screening for Social Risk Factors: A Comparison of Two Multi‐Domain Social Risk Screening Tools

Research Objective Amidst growing interest in identifying patients' social and economic risks in the context of health care delivery, many health care organizations have developed recommendations for multidomain social risk screening. A 10‐item instrument developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) includes six questions on material hardship (housing stability and quality, food security, transportation access, utilities security) and four on interpersonal violence. A set of measures recommended by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) includes one question on financial strain (difficulty paying for basic needs) and four on intimate partner violence (IPV), in addition to behavioral topics like smoking, alcohol use, and stress. We field‐tested both the CMMI and NAM questions to compare (1) rates of screening positive for socioeconomic risk factors (material hardship, financial strain, personal safety); and (2) patient acceptability.